What's on your list of Automotive improvements that are worse than what they "improved"?
Serpentine drive belts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, If they break you lose all control. IMO the separate belts were much better for that reason.
Power Windows,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sure, they're convenient but the hand cranks worked fine and didn't cost $150 or more to fix.
Fuel pump in the gas tank,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Really? the engine mounted ones worked fine.
What's yours?
Just about everything introduced in the last decade or so.
The 2 worst in my opinion are start/stop and AFM.
Touch screen climate controls.
I get that physical buttons are expensive, but that’s so inconvenient.
On my Volvo, each of the buttons has a different shape, your finger instinctive finds the correct buttons and the physical dials are big and have a distinctive feeling.
I do not want to get my eyes off the road and look at some screen and navigate menus… this is literally the worst modern trend…
Electric air recreation doors.
I don’t see a reason why we can’t just have a mechanical leaver like on 2000’s Dihatsu cars.
Furthermore, I simply don’t get how it’s a $250 part and a Dash-out job on some new cars.
on my Volvo I can replace this actuator in under 5 minutes, all parts should be easily accessible.
this part literally breaks on all modern cars, it completely went out on my Volvo, on my Toyota is makes a horrid sound and on my Ford it’s position sensor failed so it constantly attempts to open it, just give me a mechanical leaver god damn it.
Dual clutch automatics.
These sound great in theory but in reality they’re all either unreliable or jerky on all reasonably priced cars.
Start-Stop/Cylinder Deactivation systems you can’t disable
these are such terrible ideas, I should be able to choose what I want my car’s engine to do.
Why does Mazda make me unplug the hood latch sensor… it’s just so dumb that there isn’t any other way.
All of the plastic crap
I get that the manufacturer was trying to save a couple of dollars but is it really worth it? Just get rid of the stupid plastic beauty coverings or other useless components.
“Smart” keys
why do new car keys cost hundreds of dollars, why can’t I just use the physical lock in my Ford to lock all 4 doors?
90% of the time I’m going to the drivers door anyway so having the option to just open it and the entire car with an old school key should be a given.
Also
”Space Saver Wheels” and “Inflation kits”
If the tire doesn’t fit in the boot (in some small cars, no excuse for family sedans and SUVs) just have it under the car (like how it is on the Clio wagon), it’s a better place for it anyway.
But having to drive on a tiny, thin, plastic and high pressure space saver is just terrible…
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“fuel efficient tires”
and on the topic of tires, the new “fuel efficient” tires are terrible. A family member has them on his new Kia Niro and they make so much noise especially when braking or making turns
For my cars I always get the softest rubber possible, I really don’t mind that 0.25mpg increase to avoid the noise and have better control ability.
soft rubber gives crap durability though
Fifty or so years ago AMC offered space saver spare tires that had folded sidewalls. They had to be inflated with a bottle of compressed air or a pump, kind of the worst of both worlds. I have one kicking around the garage from an old Hornet Sportabout but would not attempt to inflate the thing for fear of it just flying apart.
Run-flat tires with no spare are another very dubious "improvement". This is another one that AMC had in the early to mid 1960s for their 3-seat wagons which were compact and had no space for a spare. (Captive-Aire tires were basically a tire-in-a-tire and were developed by Goodyear for Chrysler which offered them as an option in the late 1950s.)
Interesting
but how can you fold back one of those AMC space savers? or is it a single-use thing?
It probably can't be much worse then trying to figure out how to actuate the spare wheel winch on Renault products...
https://youtu.be/LEUGm0Efbi0?t=70
I think those AMC space-saver spares are supposed to fold back into place when deflated. Although I've had cars equipped with those I never actually had to use the thing. (That Renault thing is both clever and insane!)
Add to the list,,,,,plastic intake manifolds!
Plastic jacks,,,,,,,,,,,,,, really can you believe it?
I have had to replace both the fuel pump and a power window motor. That's why I put them on the list. I wholeheartly agree with the simple control knob thing.
Serpentine drive belts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, If they break you lose all control. IMO the separate belts were much better for that reason.
More belts take more room in engine bay. Not all vehicles have space for that.
Power Windows,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sure, they're convenient but the hand cranks worked fine and didn't cost $150 or more to fix.
I've never had to spend money on power windows. And even if I did, it's inexpensive and easy enough to fix.
The new stuff with electronics though .... different story.
Fuel pump in the gas tank,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Really? the engine mounted ones worked fine.
I've also never had to change a in-tank fuel pump so they can't be that bad.
"improvements" I don't like are buttons+menus in favor of simple knobs/dials. And using plastic where it doesn't belong.
In-tank fuel pumps don't have to be difficult. My old Saabs have a cover in the trunk that you unbolt to get at the pump, pretty easy. (Unfortunately many cars require dropping the gas tank to do that job. That can be a challenge on an old car in the rust belt.)
Plastic oil pan. Even on a 2019 Cadillac XT4.
For me it is Cylinder Deactivation and higher gear automatic transmissions (specifically, 8, 9, and 10-speeds).
Sealed transmissions. It irritates me that I can't easily change my trans fluid. I mean it is doable, I pulled the lines going into the radiator method and got it all changed.
However, it was way easier on my old 98' f-150, I could do it by myself. It even has a drain plug on the torque converter so I can easily drain 12 of the 14 quarts between that and the trans fluid pan.
